Rachel is Here
by PriestessAmy
Summary: A little something I wrote a while back, on request from a friend. General sort of Amberprice, with maybe a hint of implied Amberpricefield. One of those AUs where everything is totally fine and nothing hurts.


It was... impressive really. Max, presumably, had the only key to her new dorm room. And yet, when she opened the door, a blue lightning bolt struck her and she found herself being hugged fervently by her long lost best friend of five years. And just inside the dorm, looking bashful but eager, the famous Rachel Amber.

"Hey loser! It's a good thing you finally started getting back in touch with me. I can't tell you how pissed I'd be if I didn't have the prep time needed to welcome you properly." Max was finally freed from the chokehold and she already knew that this was just the first of many awkward introductions during her time here at Blackwell. "More importantly, dun dun duuunnnnnnn, here she is ladies and gentlemen... shit, just ladies..." Chloe was excitable and scattered and Max was barely able to wrap her mind around the short blue hair. It was like talking to a living, breathing whirlwind.

"The one... The only... Raaacchhheeeellllllll... Ammmbbeeerrrrrr~!" Chloe made some impressive fake crowd noises and the beautiful blonde completely ignored her excitement, extending a perfect hand and a perfect smile.

"I'm really sorry about her. Shortly after that first letter you sent her, it's pretty much just been Max, Max, Max, 24/7. It's enough to make a girl jealous." Despite the words that could have been threatening from anyone else, the way she laughed so brightly, so infectiously, Max got the honest impression that Rachel really was interested in meeting her.

Chloe was still dancing around, doing her best to imitate an entire cheering stadium. It felt like it was just yesterday she was leaving for Seattle. "Well, luckily for you, I'm just as much of a dork as the day I left. The only person I'm in danger of stealing is that Warren guy..."

"Oh my gosh, _Warren_ imprinted on you? You poor dear..." If Max understood correctly, Chloe's girlfriend was basically friends with everyone, and she could kind of see why. It wasn't just a physical thing, exactly, though that didn't hurt. She was charming, charismatic, empathetic. You felt like you knew her after just a few seconds.

"Mmm, my fault for wearing a Doctor Who shirt my first day."

"Nonsense. He's a good dude, just... eager. Not unlike a certain someone I know. Speaking of which..." Rachel reached out and snagged Chloe's arm, bringing her little play session to an immediate end. "Darling. Be a dear and maybe actually help your friend? I have no doubt she's got more shit to bring in."

"Oh! Yeah, my parents are at some kind of meeting thing and then they'll be over with the rest. Until then, it's just this stuff." Max carried a bag in each hand and her beloved guitar was slung around her shoulder in a padded carrier. The two duffels were taken from her in a flash and placed on her bed. "And for the love of god, don't actually go through my stuff..." Though Max had initially said it as a joke, she could see Chloe reaching for the zipper before rapidly yanking her hand away.

"Wouldn't dream of snooping. Obviously." She finally seemed to be coming down from her excitement and came back to give Max another tight hug, this time less excitable and more slow, meaningful. The kind of hug you gave someone you hadn't seen after five years. And it felt good. "I'm really really **really** glad you're back, Max. And I can't tell you how happy I am you're getting along." Chloe pulled back and the other two could see a few tears in the corner of her eyes. Rachel cooed and moved to her side to wipe them away with her thumb and Max immediately saw just how much slack the blonde had been picking up in her absence. Rachel had been pulling double duty as girlfriend and best friend. Max felt bad about that. "Shit, um, can we get outta here? Just gotta take care of something real quick..."

Rachel gave a serious nod, and Max was starting to become seriously concerned. _Is this some kind of weird cult thing? Is that why Rachel seemed so popular and perfect? Oh god..._

Okay, so Max knew she was letting her paranoia get the best of her, but she honestly had no clue what to expect. Her confidence didn't really get any better as the three of them climbed into a rusty, rickety excuse for a truck and the bluenette began driving them away from the school. They chatted amiably enough, about how excited they all were for the semester, and the fact that they would get to graduate together – here Rachel Amber cut in to remind Chloe for the apparently millionth time that she'd be a drop-out if not for her intervention. They were apparently making big plans to go off, maybe to California, and the way Chloe talked, she wanted to drag Max along. Well, some things never changed.

They arrived at the town dump and Max's hopes were shrinking by the second. Maybe Chloe had actually been plotting with her lover how to kill Max for abandoning her? _Jesus, Caulfield, get your shit together. Chloe's gone punk, not psycho!_

It turned out to be something of a clubhouse, though that was kind of a generous description. There were old car seats and overturned spools for tables. It was so very... Arcadia Bay. "Our home away from home away from home. And now it's yours too, Maximus. Here." Chloe passed Max a permanent marker, though the way she did it, the more apropos word would probably be "bequeath". She was directed toward a spot on the wall where both Chloe and Rachel had added their names with the beautifully clichéd 'was here'.

She knelt in the dirt, uncapped the marker, and wrote it out with as much flair as she could, trying not so much to mimic the others' styles as the attitude that this was her mark and it had to be special. She finished and turned to hand the marker back, only to be shocked by the sound of light applause. Her face bloomed in a bright blush and she moved over to collapse on one of the makeshift chairs, pleased to find it was actually rather comfy.

"So Max" Rachel launched in eagerly. "Chloe tells me you're a photographer?"

"Yeah. I mean, I try. I dunno. I want to be?" Her hesitant answer earned her a bright laugh from the other two and she attempted to burrow into her seat a little more.

"Good answer. Not everyone at Blackwell is so humble."

"Oh, fuck, like... what's her name? Baby, who's the one with the hair shorter than mine? She was sobbing about some news story?"

"Victoria... The one person at school smart enough to resist my charms..."

Max cocked her head to the side, feeling like she just missed at least three different pieces of information in one fell swoop. "Okay, you're gonna have to back up..."

"Victoria Chase. She'll... probably be gunning for you. She's like... Queen Bee of this big social club, and has all these fancy cameras and always goes on about like... Shit, I don't really know any names. Whatever. Blackwell was supposed to get some hotshot dude in to teach photography cla-"

"Mark Jefferson." Max felt her stomach sink. She could empathize with that Victoria girl at the moment. Jefferson was the reason she was so excited about Blackwell, and then the cops found... well... it was too terrible to think about. "Yeah, I remember. I have his book. Well, had. I burned it after I found out. He was a genius, but can you imagine the hell he'd cause in a small town like this?"

"Why is it always the hot ones?" Rachel Amber cried, rather dramatically, in the general direction of the heavens.

"Tread carefully, babe. You're either calling me a hot psycho or an ugly regular person..."

Max giggled and watched as the blonde attempted to stop from digging herself in any deeper. This was... nice. Back together with her partner in crime and her girlfriend, a rivalry with some girl named Victoria, and her first ever opportunity to actually break some poor nerd's heart. It was bound to be a good year.


End file.
